Nowadays, brands and their marketing agencies increasingly rely on different digital marketing techniques to improve viewer engagement. The digital marketing techniques may include the use of virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive reality and so on. In one example, immersive reality or 360 degree videos are used to provide virtual tours around a place of interest. The place of interest may be a resort, hotel, building, an apartment, a tourist spot and so on.
The 360 degree video is recorded using a 360 degree video camera. Referring to FIG. 1, a 360 degree video camera 105 is shown. Typically, the 360 degree video camera 105 comprises a plurality of cameras mounted on a spherical rig as shown. Each camera among the plurality of cameras capture images from a different perspective simultaneously. Further, each of the images captured in an instance, are joined together to form a 360 degree image. Furthermore, a plurality of 360 degree images are joined together to form a 360 degree video. The 360 degree video captured may be further transferred to a playback device for displaying to a viewer. In one example, the playback device may be a head-mounted gear.
At present, 360 degree videos are captured by focussing on the objects of interest in a scene. Typically, the objects of interest may include mobile objects or characters that animate the scene. The object of interest is usually kept at a yaw of 0° while capturing the 360 degree images in the scene. (The yaw may be defined as the angle of rotation of the camera, about a pivot, about a vertical axis). For example, consider that a viewer V1 is viewing a 360 degree video using a head mounted gear. The viewer V1 may focus on an object A located at a yaw of 0°, in a first scene S1 of the 360 degree video, at a first point of time t1, as shown in FIG. 2A. As a result, the viewer V1 may view the object of interest, i.e., the object A, without moving his head to the left or right. At a second point of time t2, the viewer may turn his head to the left, in order to view an object B in the first scene S1, located at a yaw of −150° as shown in FIG. 2B. Now, consider that the first scene S1 transitions to a second scene S2, at a third point of time t3, while the viewer V1 is focussing on the object B as shown in FIG. 2C. In the second scene S2, a new object C may be located at a yaw of 0°. In order to view the new object C, the viewer V1 has to turn his head by 150° to the right. As a result, the viewer V1 misses the entrance of the new object C. In other words, the viewer V1 loses continuity of the narrative intended through the 360 degree video. In addition, in existing 360 degree videos, each of the scenes are captured separately and edited to comprise a fixed playback duration. In other words, the playback duration is not customisable by the viewer V1. Consequently, when the first scene S1 transitions to the second scene S2 as shown in FIG. 2C, the viewer V1 may experience a break in the narrative.
An existing solution to the above mentioned problems includes the introduction of a cross-fading or cross-mixing between the first scene S1 and the second scene S2. The crossfading between different scenes is shown in FIG. 3. The cross-fading or cross-mixing may indicate to the viewer that the scene is changing. Subsequently, the viewer may reposition his head to the initial position, i.e., at yaw of 0°.
Another existing solution comprises providing a navigation interface to the viewer upon finishing playback of a scene. The navigation interface may provide the viewer with options to select the next scene. For example, consider that the scene S1 has finished playback. The navigation interface enables the viewer to select the next scene from among a plurality of scenes S1, S2. S3 . . . Sn. In one example, the viewer may select scene S2 as the next scene. But, when the viewer is unfamiliar with the overall narrative, he may not be aware of which scene to choose next. Further, in certain instances, the navigation interface may seem too complex to the viewer. As a result, the viewer may not be able to view the narrative in a continuous manner.